This year is Balticon 55, hosted by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, and for the second (and hopefully final) year, all events are free to attend online! Check out the full schedule and attend panels at your leisure over Memorial Day weekend, May 28-31. Find full info here.
My personal schedule is below, and I bet you can figure out which event I’m most excited about. (All times are Eastern.)
Friday
- 7 PM: Writing Fantastic Diseases in a Post-COVID World (panel)
- The past year has taught us a lot of valuable and interesting lessons about the way pandemics can affect society at all levels. Now that you can assume your audience has first-hand experience at living through a pandemic, how will this change how you write about similar situations? What are new ways to convey feelings of horror, distrust, and paranoia? If you’re a writer of future (or near-future) societies, what do you plan on changing about your worldbuilding?
- With D.H. Aire (moderator), John Wiswell, Jeanne Adams, and Seanan McGuire
Saturday
- 1:30 PM: Reading
- Get the first sneak-peek from Steel Empires Book 6: Steel Justice!
- 7 PM: The Old Guard (panel)
- This graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez came to life last summer as a Netflix film. Fans came to see Charlize Theron with an ax and stayed for a unique fantasy concept and representation both onscreen and behind the camera. Join us for a discussion of the movie versus the book, the perks and drawbacks of living forever, and the role of Big Pharma in the search for immortality.
- With Dr. Jim Prego, L. Penelope, Jeanne Adams, and Nicole Givens Kurtz
- They’re letting me moderate this one because it was my idea. /cackles
Sunday
- 10 AM: How Online Fan Communities Have Evolved (panel)
- Science fiction and fantasy fans are often early adaptors of new communications technology, and each evolutionary leap has helped fans find each other. How have the distinct features (and limitations) of different platforms shaped the communities that used them and how do we think they will change in the near and distant future?
- With Gail Z. Martin (moderator), Anne Gray, Devin Randall, and John Tilden
Wonderful day